Butternut, spinach & ricotta conchiglioni
Servings: 6
Butternut squash innards lend themselves to the ‘add one more’ principle of veg-cookery. If you’ve got it, add it! Ricotta is a wonderfully versatile ingredient. My preference is for the hunks of hefty wheel you can pick up from the deli counter by weight, rather than most of those that you’ll find in a tub. Add blobs to hotcakes for pillowy pops, or use to fill scoopy pastas like conchiglioni (the biggest shells you can find). If you've got one, microwaving the butternut to soften it before slicing makes it much easier to hack into, or you could buy it pre-sliced into halves and roast if you’d prefer a more traditional route. If you’ve made this with a whole butternut and have a half left, why not try my Butternut Squash with Buttered Nut Squash.
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Ingredients
- 2 large brown onions peeled and sliced into rings
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and sliced
- 1.5 kg butternut squash
- 100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 50 g butter diced
- 375 g jumbo pasta shells see tips
- 2 eggs beaten
- 750 g ricotta
- ⅔ cup natural yoghurt
- 300 g grated pizza cheese see tips
- ½ a whole fresh nutmeg
- finely grated Zest of 1-2 lemons
- 100 g baby spinach washed and finely shredded
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220℃ (200℃ fan). Place sliced onion and garlic in the base of a large oven-to-table baking dish; arrange butternut slices over the top. Pour over olive oil and stock; scatter with brown sugar, butter, salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour (removing the foil after 30 minutes) until the butternut is super soft and starting to caramelise. Remove from oven and toss the vegetables in the dish to combine, slightly squashing the squash to form the base sauce.
- Meanwhile, cook pasta shells in boiling salted water to packet instructions (minus a minute) until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process so they don’t stick together, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the beaten eggs, ricotta, yoghurt, half the grated cheese and nutmeg, lemon zest, spinach and parsley; beat until smooth and season to taste. Using a dessert spoon, fill the pasta shells with ricotta mixture, placing each shell on the butternut base. Scatter with remaining grated cheese and rasp of nutmeg, cover with foil and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 20 minutes until bubbling and golden. Leave to cool a little before serving.
